Week 2 blog on Dubliners

The Sisters

Though the chapter is named for the sister caretakers who looked after the declining priest, much of the focus of the chapter seems to be on the narrator’s feelings about the priest and the death of the priest. I find the seeming points of conflict in this chapter to be interesting: the boy’s feeling of freedom upon learning of the priest’s death, although he liked the priest and learned many things from him. Perhaps seeing the priest in such a decrepit state in his last few years of life contributed to this feeling of freedom. Indeed, the priest probably looked more healthful dead than alive—as Eliza said, “No one would think he’d make such a beautiful corpse.” The narrator also seemed to be easily frustrated by his elders describing Old Cotter as being a “Tiresome old red nosed imbecile!,” and the narrator was easily distracted by one of the old sister’s mutterings and disheveled clothing when praying at the priest’s coffin. When the narrator said that he almost expected the corpse to be smiling, I wonder if the fact that the dead man was free from such difficult people as the narrator had described could be a reason for the dead priest’s supposed happiness and peace.

An Encounter

Frustration with or repulsion by elders is a theme that certainly carries over into the next chapter, An Encounter. The boys, skipping school, encounter an older man who at first engages them in relatively innocent conversation, talking of the weather and such, but the man gradually gets creepier and creepier, until the boys are scared away. The author seems to be of the opinion that the older members of society each have some sort of problem, and they interfere with the ambitions of the youth. For this reason, I find this to be a rather sad and somewhat bitter collection of stories (so far at least).

The Araby

The Araby is linked to The Sisters through mention that a priest had died in the house in which The Araby takes place. The Araby is also linked to both previous stories through the theme of elders being disappointing and frustrating. In The Araby, all the narrator wants to do is to be able to go the Araby so that he can bring back a trinket for his love. His uncle, however, forgets about his nephew’s desire until it is almost too late, and the narrator, upon arriving at the Araby, is so dismayed about how things turned out that he leaves the almost deserted place without buying anything at all. Even the shopkeeper there was not truly interested in selling anything to the narrator. Again, a young person’s opportunity for love and fulfillment is dashed by the mindlessness of elders. Yet another sad tale!